A Time of Healing
by Odins.Legacy
Summary: The team is given a much needed vacation in Palm Beach, Florida. Garcia's younger sister comes in as her travel companion after she & Kevin break up, in need of some time too. Everyone's had their time to hurt, now comes the time to heal. R&R, please?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Penelope Garcia stood at the airport gate waiting for her 'precious cargo' as she liked to fondly call her baby sister. She pulled out her cell phone and played a game on it while waiting, occasionally looking up to scan the crowd.

After a little while, she looked up and a tall, plus-sized girl with long dark strawberry blonde hair and bangs cut much like her own came into her vision. This girl wore silver-rimmed glasses, a flowy green-paisley peasant blouse with a plunging V-Neck hugging her curves in all the right places, and long dark blue bellbottoms with black open-toe heels.

"Glooorry!!" Garcia called out excitedly, putting her phone in her purse and trotting to meet the younger Garcia girl.

"Penny!" Gloria Garcia exclaimed just as excitedly, calling her sister the sacred name allowed only between them as she held out her arms for the impending hug.

The sisters embraced, and after a moment Garcia backed up and held her sister's shoulders, "Girl, you look fantastic!"

Gloria smiled, flipping her long, full hair back behind her shoulder, "You too, Pen. I wish I were comin' under better circumstances..."

Garcia smiled with her ruby-red lips and shrugged, "It doesn't matter, Glory, you were over-due for a visit anyway."

The women walked arm in arm out of the airport, Gloria dragging her luggage behind her on wheels. Garcia took out her phone and sent a text message to her team-mate from the FBI headquarters, Derek Morgan:

**Got the sister, safe and sound.**

"Oooh, texting Mr. Morgan, are we?" Gloria grinned, showing off just as beautiful of a smile as her sister's own.

Garcia rolled her eyes good naturedly, "Of course, Pumpkin. He's been keeping tabs since D-Day, today being no exception."

The girls reached Garcia's little red sports car and loaded Gloria's luggage, then got in themselves and started down the freeway.

"Pour Some Sugar on Me" began playing, signifying that Garcia had gotten a text back from Morgan.

"Do me a favor, Angel, and check that for me while I'm driving?" Garicia asked her sister.

Gloria opened up her phone and checked the message, "He says, _"Nice, u in for tonite?"_ Ooh, what's tonight???"

Garcia laughed, "The team's going out for celebratory drinks tonight before we embark on our little trip to Florida - he's been pestering me to join. Didn't really feel like going on my own, since the others probably wouldn't be..."

"Damn, Kevin really wrecked you, hon..." Gloria shook her head. "I think that this is just the thing we Garcia's need! Go dancing and drinking! To hell with Kevin Lynch, Penny, he never deserved you, anyway!"

Garcia couldn't help but throw her head back and howl with laughter, "Fine, kiddo, text him back and let him know we'll be there."

"Kick ass!"

~*~

Nightfall came quickly and both Garcia girls walked into the bar/club, Gloria in a black halter dress with a wide belt and Garcia in a little red haltered number. Gloria had chosen to leave her hair lose with a barette clipped in each side, while Garcia had hers half up and half down, standing slightly spiky in the back.

Morgan turned just in time to see them enter and grinned, "Well, if it isn't Hot Mama and Twisted Sister!"

Gloria's brow raised, "Twisted Sister?"

Morgan smiled and extended a hand, "Agent Derek Morgan, call me Morgan, Derek, just don't call me late for dinner."

"Gloria Garcia, named for the song by our hippie parents," Gloria replied, flashing a peace sign in memory of her parents as she shook Morgan's hand.

"Wow, you two favor somethin' fierce, especially since Garcia here went Red," Morgan commented.

"Ah, but this kitten is still in her twenties, unlike moi," Garcia sighed in mock sadness.

"C'mon, we're all over here," Morgan led them to a multitude of tall tables with the rest of the team sitting on barstools or standing.

"Gloria, this is the team; Aaron Hotchner, Emily Prentiss, David Rossi, Jennifer Jareau, aka JJ, her man Will Lamontagne, and the baby boy Dr. Spencer Reid," Morgan gestured to each member in turn, "guys, this is Garcia's little sister Gloria."

This elicited small waves, smiles, and hello's. Gloria smiled and waved herself, "Hi!"

Garcia and Gloria walked to the tables and pulled up barstools, perching on them with their legs crossed elegantly.

"So Garcia said you were coming with us to Florida!" JJ said with a smile.

Gloria nodded, "Yep, I'm excited! I haven't seen the ocean in ages..."

"Jayje, might wanna pack some extra sunscreen; this one burns like the Sahara when exposed to sunlight. I've begun to wonder if she's a vampire..." Garcia winked, Gloria playfully shoving her.

"Not like you're any better, Miss Alabaster!" Gloria chided in a sing-song voice.

JJ laughed, "I get a feeling all three of us will look like lobsters before this gig's over."

"Hey, Garcia, speaking of Vampires, I looked into that _Twilight_ thing you were talking about..." Reid suddenly said out of the blue. "The whole 'sparkling' thing kinda throws me off... that and Bella seems kinda fan-girlish, don't you think?"

"Hey, Mister, don't hate on the sexy vampires!" Garcia mock-scolded the long-haired young man. "Oh god, if only the Cullens were real... dear god, be still my beating heart I would RAPE Carlisle."

Reid's eyes went wide and he blinked, then shook his head as he looked at Morgan, who was beginning to speak.

"So you're lusting for some almost-transparent fictional vampire who could basically kill you with one bite?" he was almost as confused as Reid.

"Oh fear not my Hot Chocolate God, even vampire's can't compare to you," Garica winked and blushed.

Gloria wasn't really sold either way on the _Twilight_ saga, so she opted to stay out of that one and turned back to JJ.

"Is that adorable son of yours coming?" Gloria asked, "Pen's told me so much about Henry."

JJ smiled and appreciated the mention of her son, "Yeah, we're bringing his nanny as well so we can squeeze in a little 'us' time, too," she replied as she leaned back into Will's arms.

"Gosh, Pen talks about the job all the time, I know it's gotta be hell just getting time for you two, let alone little man, too," Gloria commented with a shake of her head.

"Yeah, well, we take what we can get. This week's gonna do us all some good, I think," was JJ's reply. "Hotch is bringing his little boy Jack, too."

"Oh, really?" Gloria turned to the stoic dark-haired man who had been conversing quietly with Prentiss and Rossi.

Hotch looked up at the mentioning of himself and his son and smiled, "Yeah, it'll be his first time seeing the ocean."

Rossi spoke up, "I happened to walk in on Hotch talking to Jack one day and apparently, he wants to be a profiler, too someday."

"Aww, that is so cute!" Prentiss said with a soft smile.

"I bet you're his super hero," Gloria commented, causing Hotch to blush a little along with the small smile that crossed his face.

Suddenly a good beat came on and Morgan got up, tapping Garcia's shoulder as he passed her chair, "C'mon, hot stuff, let's bust a move!"

Garcia couldn't help but cackle as she let the muscular man lead her to the dance floor.

JJ and Will followed not long after. Gloria's peripheral vision showed Prentiss looking around nervously, almost antsy. _She wants to ask Hotch to dance!_

Gloria thought this was just too cute and moved away from them to make things a bit less awkward, hoping that Rossi would eventually do the same. She looked to the far end of where everyone had been and saw Reid sitting on his own playing with a deck of cards. Her eyebrows went up and she approached him.

"So you go out to bars to play cards?" she asked the young man as she leaned against the table.

"Hm? Oh, well y'know, not much else to do besides enjoy the Scotch," was Reid's feeble reply.

She watched him, with a slide of his hand, make a card disappear. She couldn't help but smile, "Years of practice..."

"Yeah. Magic's kinda a hobby of mine. So's Quantim Mechanics."

"Dang, Penny wasn't fibbing when she said you were a brainiac!" Gloria laughed.

"Well we're all a little eccentric... I think that's why we get along so well," he replied quietly.

"Yeah, I know how my sister can be," she conceided. Suddenly the song changed and she jumped. "Oooh, I love this song! C'mon, let's teach you some new tricks!" she exclaimed and suddenly began tugging on his hand.

"Gloria, I don't dance!" he began to insist in a panicked tone.

"It's easy, babe, just follow my lead," was her cool reply. He eventually caved and followed her to a spot not far from the table. She began moving to the rhythm, making eye contact with Reid and watching in her peripheral as he began to follow her moves, stiffly at first but then more relaxed.

"Yeah, just like that!" she couldn't help but smile.

Reid laughed a little and just kept moving, afraid if he stopped moving now that he would lose his rhythm.

From across the room, Morgan noticed the two dancing and commented to Garcia, "Looks like Twisted Sister's got Reid loosening up."

Garcia couldn't help but peek, "Aw, how darling! Poor kid, white boys just can't dance..."

Morgan laughed heartily, "But you Garcia girls can sure get down!"

"Hell yeah, we can. I taught her everything she knows!"

"Ooh, then Reid's gonna be a sappy little lap-dog before we know it!"

Garcia giggled, "She's not quite as bewitching as I am... she's got the subtle touch of the family."

"Ah, I see."

Garcia sighed, "Reid's just been out there too long... too much crap's happened to him these past few years. He needs this trip just as much as anyone."

"From what you've told me, so does Gloria."

Garcia nodded, "Indeed. Maybe they'll be good for each other."

"Not if Reid don't keep up with the rhythm!" Morgan exclaimed as he began dancing in circles around Garcia.

She laughed, "Oh, you're so bad!"


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing and faving so far, I appreciate it! :)_

Chapter Two

For once the jet that the BAU used wasn't going to a grizzly, grim crime scene. No UnSubs to catch... No. Maybe just once in the team's existance this jet would be able to hold some positive memories.

Everyone was in more casual attire than normal, most prepared for the warmer temperatures that Palm Beach would surely bring. Gloria herself was dressed in a lacy sky blue tank and khaki bermuda shorts, her hair was pulled back in two low-hanging pig tails on either side of her head. She was playing with her iPod, scanning through her library to find just the right song to put her in the mood for the good times ahead.

Suddenly her fingers froze and the song on the screen began to play...

_Loving you_

_Isn't the right thing to do_

_How can I ever change things_

_That I feel_

_If I could_

_Baby I'd give you my world_

_How can I_

_When you won't take it from me_

_You can go your own way_

_Go your own way_

_You an call it_

_Another lonely day_

_You can go your own way_

_Go your own way _

She came back to reality and quickly shut the iPod off, trying not to let exactly what she was feeling in that moment show. _Dammit, Gloria, it's almost been six months! Why can't you just shake this and get on with your life?!_

After taking a moment to breathe and clear her head, she noticed the guy called Reid... what was his first name? Steven, Sterling?... No, Spencer! Yeah, that was it. He was sitting in a corner of the jet by himself staring at a chessboard. Once again, his eccentricness got the best of her and she rose from her own seat, sitting in the seat opposite him.

"Solitaire Chess?" she asked with a smile.

"Mmm? Oh, hey Gloria. Nah, just a little something to unwind..."

"You use Chess to unwind?"

"Doesn't everyone?"

"Well personally a couple shots of Jack'll do it for me, but everyone has their own style."

Reid just smiled a little and continued plotting his next move against himself. "Do you play?"

"Lordy, no. I'm more of a Checker's kinda girl."

"We've got that somewhere on this plane if you wanna go a round."

Gloria's eyebrows raised and lowered, "Alright, but I'll warn you, I'll kick your butt."

Reid just smiled in a knowing way as he carefully put the Chess set away, "We'll see."

Just as Reid was getting up to put the box back in its place and get the Checker's box, a sudden yank on his pant leg made him look down.

"Ba!"

"Well hi there!" Reid said with a smile, scooping up little Henry Lamontangne into his arms. Since he'd gotten bigger, Reid didn't seem as afraid of breaking him, though he had his moments of discomfort when the poor bundle would drool on him.

Gloria couldn't help but turn around and watch this exchange.

JJ got up and walked over to Reid, "Looks like someone snuck away when Mommy wasn't looking!" she grinned, poking the little baby boy's tummy.

"He's fine, JJ. It's been awhile since I've seen him, anyhow," Reid bounced the boy around a little, tickling his little chin with his index finger.

"He amazes me more and more every day... he actually knows who you and Garcia are. He sees your pictures at the house and points and makes all kinds of racket!" JJ laughed.

Reid laughed a little himself, not really taking his eyes away from the adorable, chubby little baby.

Gloria got up and walked quietly over to them, smiling, "He's so cute, JJ."

JJ smiled back, "Thanks... he gets that from me."

"I heard that, li'l lady!" Will called playfully in his deep southern accent from his seat.

JJ laughed and rolled her eyes, but you could tell she was happy to have her family together, "Garcia was keeping him fascinated with all her crazy toys and fuzzy pens earlier..."

"That's my sister. Kid friendly, but sworn to not have any of her own."

"What about you? Any special men in your life?"

Gloria's eyes became cast with a sad shadow for a moment, but she shook it off before the others could really notice, "Eh, no. I'm flying solo for a little while. But when Mr. Right comes along, it's for sure I'm having one of these," she replied as she played with Henry's little fingers and tickled his tummy.

"You wanna hold him?" JJ asked.

"Sure!" Gloria smiled brightly as Reid handed her the little boy with care. She bounced him around as Reid had done before, watching all the little expressions and his precious blue eyes. At one point when JJ and Reid had sat down, she pretended he was an airplane, holding him up in the air carefully and making the silly airplane noises.

Morgan had been listening to his own headphones, sharing the other jack with Garcia when he heard the noises Gloria was making. He looked up and smiled, bumping Garcia's arm. "Check it out."

Garcia looked up and saw her sister playing with her GodSon and couldn't help but smile, "Yeah, children are one of her passions... she wants nothing more than to be somebody's Mommy someday."

"Check Reid... that look on his face."

Indeed, Reid looked much different than he normally looked of late. He was smiling, and the smile actually reached his eyes.

"Aww, so precious."

"So what was it that happend between your sister and her fiance?"

Garcia sighed and shook her head, "She caught the jerk cheating on her the day before the wedding... found out he'd been cheating on her the entire time."

Morgan shook his own head, "Damn, that's dirty."

"You got that right, Sugar. When she found out one of them might have had an STD, she went balistic. I about flew out there and beat the jerk up, myself. Luckily the rumor turned out false."

"That's good... damn..."

She patted his knee, "She's still hurting, but she'll be okay. I know her..."

"How about you, Hot Stuff? How are you doing?" Morgan regarded her seriously.

She sighed and blinked, "I'll live. It sucks like nothing else, but I'll live."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "Just know I'm here for you, Baby Girl. I love you, you know that, right?"

She smiled, "I know... thanks. And I love you, too."

They sat there in silence for a moment, then put their headphones back on.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reviews and all of your patience... sorry it's taken so long for me to write some more. A lot has been going on lately but I'm finally getting some time to catch back up! :)_

Chapter Three

"We're heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere!" Gloria exclaimed happily, she and Garcia dragging their large, wheeled suitcases behind them as they endered the spacious room that she and her sister would be occupying.

Upon immediate entrance was a large, mirrored sliding door closet on the right, bathroom straight across from that on the right; blue carpet covered the entire room, which led into an even bigger space with two full-sized beds with blue comforters on the left. A desk and a large chest of drawers were across from the beds on the right, with a large flat screen TV on top of the chest of drawers. Two large, comfy-looking blue armchairs were in the corner beside the farthest bed with a table housing a coffee machine an coffee and tea makings.

And beyond it all, there it was; the large sliding glass door/window that led to their patio and beach view, which upon throwing her suitcase on the bed, Gloria immediately ran to part the curtains and check out.

"Oh my _GOD_, Penny, check out this _VIEW_!"

Garcia rolled her eyes and sighed good-naturedly, all the while smiling, as she propped her suitcase against the bed and went after her younger sister. "Wow...definitely gotta admit it's an amazing view, sis."

Ahead of them lay white sandy beaches, sparkling turquoise waters, a few people scattered here and there between the sand and surf, and skies bluer than any sky either had seen before, a few white puffy clouds floating by here and there. They were on the first floor, and conveniently their patio opened up directly to the beach.

Gloria stretched her arms above her head and yawned, "God, that ocean could put someone to sleep..."

"Aww, got a little jet-lag?" Garcia wondered with a little smile.

"I'm a little sleepy, yeah. Don't wanna miss anything though..."

"Honey you aren't gonna miss anything! It's, like, two in the afternoon. Everything's gonna be here for a little while, Glory."

"Mmmh, I think I may lie down for a little while then."

"Good idea. I'm gonna go see what they others wanna get up to and I'll pop in in a couple hours or so?"

"Sounds great."

"'Kay, sleep tight, Belle," Garcia kissed her sister on the cheek and headed toward their hotel room door, and soon disappeared out of it.

Gloria took one last look at the ocean, breathing in the different smells the beach had to offer her, then walked back inside, slid the door shut, closed the near-blackout curtains and unmade her bed, snuggling in and falling asleep before too long at all.

"So Gloria's decided to lay down for a nap, too?" Morgan asked Garcia when she came down to the lobby.

"Yep; why, who else is down for the count?" Garcia wondered.

"Hotch's takin' a nap with Jack, Will and JJ are nappin' with Henry, Emily's crashin' for a bit... Rossi's decided to go visit a friend of his a few miles out. So it looks like it's just me, you, and Reid."

"What about Reid?" Reid himself asked with a small pant as he came from the same general direction as Garcia had.

"Everyone else is either napping or livin' up the good ol' days," Morgan replied to the thin young man.

Reid's eyes went a little wide, "Gloria's napping?"

Garcia nodded, "Jet lag hit and the ocean about made her pass out on the patio."

"Yikes..."

"So, drinks on the beach? My treat," Morgan then offered the two, a wide grin spreading across his face.

"Sounds fantastic," Garcia smiled as well, "let me go change into something a little less business."

"I think I'm just gonna rest and read a little in the hotel room. I've only gotten halfway through this book in the last month," Reid replied.

"Dude, we're on vacation, there's plenty of time to rest! Besides, I thought you were some kinda speed reader or something?" Morgan questioned as the three headed back to their hotel rooms.

"I am, but we're been so busy of late I haven't really had time to pick it up," was Reid's solmn answer.

Morgan couldn't argue with that; they parted ways with Garcia when she got to her room, which was only two doors down from theirs. They changed, grabbed available beach chairs from their patios, and walked down closer to the water. Garcia being Garcia, brought a huge umbrella that encompassed the both of them. Morgan had a small cooler full of ice and brown glass bottles of beer. Garica and Morgan clinked bottles, grinning and scanning the beach and ocean ahead of them.

Later that afternoon Gloria awoke to the distant sound of children laughing and yelling happily. She arose to find that about two hours had passed since she laid down.

Parting the curtain to the sliding glass doors, she saw JJ and Hotch's children running around on the sand, building sandcastles and running into rising and falling surf. One small wave almost knocked Jack over and Gloria giggled.

Suddenly the door clicked open and in popped her sister wearing her bathing suit cover-up and pigtails. She grinned when she saw she was awake, "I was beginning to wonder if you had died, sister dear!"

Gloria couldn't help but laugh, "No, Penny, not just yet. Been out on the beach, I see?"

"Mmhmm, Derek and I sat watching the waves for a little while with a couple of cold ones," was Garcia's grinning reply.

"Oooh, how romantic!"

Garcia blushed, "Pft, any man likes drinking company no matter who it is..."

Gloria lightly swatted her sister's arm, "Now don't be like that. I think you two have chemistry!"

"Yeah, uh huh..."

"Well, I think I'm ready to head out, myself. Lemme change and I'll go back out with you."

"Fabulous!"

Gloria picked out her green, blue, and black swirled one-piece with a cute front-skirt detail and a neat little tie on the side for her little skirmish into the ocean that evening. By the time she had finished pulling it on and putting her own hair up in pigtails, Garcia was by the sliding glass door waiting on her.

"C'mon, sis! Geez, you take longer than I do to get ready!" she chided good naturedly.

Gloria stuck her tongue out at her older sister as she crossed the room toward her; they clicked the door open and walked out toward the others.

"Twisted Sister has finally joined the party!" Morgan said with a grin behind his dark sunglasses.

Everyone else looked up and greeted her one way or another as she plopped down on the towel she had brought out to sit on, "Man I must've been tuckered out..."

"Us and the kids were, too," JJ replied, of herself, Will, Hotch, and his son.

"Gotta say I was, too. Then again I'd been up all night," Emily sighed, shaking her head.

"Doing what, exactly, Miss Thang?" Morgan wondered.

"Let's just say I began my vacation a little early, shall we?"

Morgan hooted and the others laughed a little as well, including Gloria. "Hey look, there comes my man! Hey, Reid!" Morgan shouted.

Reid came walking up to them in sandals, long shorts, and a baggy plain white t-shirt. "Sounded like the entire gang was out here; looks like it, too," Reid said as he sat down in the sand between Garcia and Gloria

"Yep, everyone's either awake from their naps or still livin' it up," Morgan replied, "Emily was just tellin' us about the wild night she had last night..."

"I wasn't sayin' sh- crap!" Emily caught herself before she cursed in front of the kids, making everyone laugh even more. "All I did was stay up a little late, have a drink, and catch up on a little TV - gotta wind down somehow, right?"

Gloria laughed with the others and shook her head, then got up on her feet and headed toward the inviting waters.

"Goin' in, Glory?" Garcia called.

"Yup, I guess now's as good a time as any!" Gloria replied, laughing a little as she headed into the crashing waves. Even the small ones could knock you down on your butt if you weren't prepared, but she was.

Before she knew it, Garcia was running into the surf, giggling like a child experiencing the ocean for the first time. Not far behind her was Morgan jogging leisurely.

Eventually almost everyone was in the water somewhere; Hotch and Jack were playing with Emily, who had just finished inflating the floating ring he wanted to use. JJ and Will were bouncing Henry in the water, making sure he was up high when the waves struck. Morgan and Garcia had gotten into a splashing war a little further down the beath and Garcia was laughing hysterically. Gloria smiled; Derek was good for her, she knew it...

Meanwhile, Reid wasn't as far out as everyone else was, although he seemed to be enjoying himself immensely. Just in a quiet way. As much as these people cared about him, and he them, he didn't really seem to know how to interact with them outside of work, it seemed...

"Hi!" she said to him, allowing the waves to carry her closer to him.

"Hey," was his reply. He ran a hand through his short hair and squinted out at the others, "it's been awhile... since I've been in the ocean, that is."

"It has for me, too," Gloria breathed in, then exhaled with a happy sigh, "it's almost a religious experience for me, the ocean..."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. The waters are healing, you know."

"Really? I've never heard of that before."

Gloria smiled, "Well not everything is a scientific fact, _ DOCTOR _Reid."

Reid smiled as well, "Maybe it'll do something for my leg... I got shot in the leg awhile back and it's not been quite right since. It gets sore a lot."

"I hope it does," Gloria replied with a sincere smile. Then she turned back to the ocean and drifted her way in deeper and deeper, just allowing the water to surround and completely envelope her. _Maybe it'll heal me as well..._ she said to herself.


End file.
